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Al Jazeera targeted by Egyptian authorities

Connie AgiusUpdated
Thu Jan 02 07:45:00 EST 2014

Australian journalist Peter Greste is still in custody after he was arrested along with his cameraman and two producers. It's not the first time Al Jazeera English journalists have faced problems in Egypt. They say they have been under surveillance for months.

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: Australian journalist Peter Greste has now been detained by Egyptian authorities for more than three days and it may be some time before he and his colleagues are released.

Greste, along with his cameraman and two producers, all work for the news network Al Jazeera. Cameraman Mohamed Fawzi has been released, but the others remain in custody.

It's not the first time Al Jazeera has faced problems in Egypt, as Connie Agius reports.

CONNIE AGIUS: Egypt has always been a challenging place to work as a journalist. Al Jazeera English says it's become more difficult since Mohammed Morsi was removed from power in July.

Bernard Smith is a roving correspondent for the broadcaster and has frequently travelled to Egypt.

BERNARD SMITH: Foreign journalists became targets, were targeted by Egyptians who had been told by domestic media that a lot of foreign journalists were agents of foreign powers; that they were against the removal of Mohamed Morsi.

And so a lot of foreign journalists, including Al Jazeera English journalists, were physically harassed on the streets.

CONNIE AGIUS: Australian journalist Peter Greste is the latest Al Jazeera English reporter to encounter problems. He was arrested on Sunday, along with cameraman Mohamed Fawzi and producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed.

BERNARD SMITH: Two of my colleagues were staying in the hotel and were arrested at night. Another colleague was arrested at home. A fourth colleague, a cameraman, was also arrested. He has been released without charge.

CONNIE AGIUS: The public prosecutor, Ahmad El-Rakib, says they're being held on suspicion of joining a terrorist organisation and spreading false news that's harmful to the country's security.

Bernard Smith says this was a targeted attack on his Al Jazeera English colleagues.

BERNARD SMITH: They have been watching our office in this hotel for some months. The Egyptian permanent staff in that office have been able to identify people as regularly watching the building and pointed those people out to me.

They went into the room, the suite that we've been using as an office, and seized equipment in there and seized notes and paperwork in the office.

CONNIE AGIUS: And Bernard Smith says being a journalist in Egypt could get harder now the Muslim Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organisation.

BERNARD SMITH: If it's really the case that by just simply speaking to members of the Muslim Brotherhood journalists are breaking the law, then it's going to be very difficult for us to provide a balanced view of everything that's happening in Egypt.

CONNIE AGIUS: But the Al Jazeera network has been criticised by Egyptians for some time.

Jim Boumelha is the president of the International Federation of Journalists. He says that some Egyptians view the network as sympathetic to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

JIM BOUMELHA: Al Jazeera Arabic has been perceived by the Egyptians as being partisan. We have even seen instances where in a conference room the Egyptian journalists get up and attack the Al Jazeera crews and try to throw them out of the room for being propagandists and provocateurs and so on.

CONNIE AGIUS: But Bernard Smith says that's not true.

BERNARD SMITH: Myself and my colleagues who have been in Egypt since July and August and the months following have bent over backwards to make sure that the story we present internationally is a balanced view of what is happening inside Egypt.

TONY EASTLEY: Bernard Smith, a correspondent with Al Jazeera English network. That report from Connie Agius.